Police reinforce policing in the Complexo do Alemão.
The Military Police (PM) of Rio de Janeiro has reinforced policing in the Complexo do Alemão with 300 officers to contain the movement of drug traffickers in the region, mainly in the areas served by the UPPs Fazendinha, Nova Brasília, and Alemão, according to the commander of the Pacifying Police Coordination, Colonel Frederico Caldas. The objective of the police reinforcement is to combat organized crime in the group of favelas in the complex, in the northern zone of Rio, which has already killed 15 PMs since the State Secretariat of Security (Seseg) began the process of installing the UPPs six years ago.
Cristina Indio do Brasil - Reporter for Agência Brasil
The Military Police (PM) of Rio de Janeiro has reinforced policing in the Complexo do Alemão with 300 officers to contain the movement of drug traffickers in the region, mainly in the areas served by the Pacifying Police Units (UPPs) Fazendinha, Nova Brasília and Alemão, according to the commander of the Pacifying Police Coordination, Colonel Frederico Caldas.
The objective of the police reinforcement is to combat organized crime in the Complexo do Alemão favela complex, in the northern zone of Rio, which has already killed 15 PMs since the State Secretariat of Security (Seseg) began the process of installing the UPPs six years ago. Last night (1st), another police officer was injured, not seriously, while patrolling the area, and in the early afternoon today (2nd) there was another shootout, in which a policewoman was injured, also not seriously.
According to Colonel Caldas, the UPP (Pacifying Police Unit) has the support of daily operations by the Special Operations Battalion (BOPE), while the corporation's intelligence service maps the areas where confrontations between police and criminals hiding in the region are most frequent. Due to the tension in the area, the cable car service serving the community has been suspended as a safety measure, and there is no date set for its resumption.
The commander said that "of the 38 UPPs installed, the one in the Complexo do Alemão is the most concerning. Since March, we have initiated a series of daily operations, mainly in the areas of Nova Brasília, Fazendinha, and within the UPP itself in Alemão. Although we have seen a significant reduction in these confrontations, we still face a very big challenge because it is a difficult and very large area, with 56 entrances and exits, including wooded areas, and what is being done is precisely this daily work to try to minimize these confrontations as much as possible. But, in fact, it is worrying, mainly because the presence of criminals is still evident," he explained.
The presence of minors carrying firearms has been increasing, according to Caldas. He considered this a social tragedy, but said that the expectation is that through these actions, especially with the use of BOPE (Special Police Operations Battalion) and the reinforcement of police officers, these confrontations will decrease more and more.
The colonel said that the police carried out a "strangulation" operation around the area, and noted that there had been a change in the criminals' behavior, who had even moved into the Parque Proletário region, in Penha. According to Caldas, "it's a great challenge, but we are certain that this action will be able to minimize the criminals' activity. Ideally, we wouldn't have these confrontations, which is why the investigation, identification, and arrest of the criminals is also important. So, we are sharing information with the Civil Police for the identification of the criminals." He added that the police's difficulty is not only due to the size of the area, but also to the large population of the complex and, especially, the involvement of minors.
The Secretary of Public Security of Rio, José Mariano Beltrame, acknowledges the degree of difficulty faced by police officers in the Complexo do Alemão, "which has problems, just as we had and still have some problems in Rocinha, but these are very large areas, with urban disorder, where the architecture of these areas facilitates hiding and, unfortunately, makes our police officers easy targets, but we are very vigilant. In the Complexo do Alemão we have reinforced policing, and BOPE has also remained in certain strategic areas and we will not give up, because we understand that any step backward will have a very large consequence," he said.
Beltrame also said that the police will remain in Alemão and will seek to improve the placement of police officers. "The police are the majority there today, we will remain there. It is by gradually talking to the population, trying to understand the community, that we will change this culture where, unfortunately, some people, especially minors, are used to try to trivialize this process, but we will not give up, because we understand that without turning the page on these communities that have been used by drug traffickers for a long time, we will not improve the security situation in Rio de Janeiro," he explained.